Apr 25, 2012

Rugs?!

There are still media offensives to support hunting of polar bears, touting so-called scientific studies and polar bear abundance---click HERE for an example. This is why protecting polar bears and fighting the inhumanity are all the more imperative.

Polar bears are in big trouble from accelerating Arctic warming and a vanishing sea-ice habitat. This year's skyrocketing fur prices and trophy hunting are also taking a devastating toll. Polar bear sport-hunting and the trophy trade are prohibited in the United States, but the international trade in polar bear parts is alive and well.The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is now deciding whether it will move to protect polar bears under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. At the last round of CITES negotiations, the Service led the charge to ban all commercial trade in polar bear parts -- a move Canada blocked. The agency is now "undecided" on its position for the upcoming CITES meeting.Canada still kills around 500 bears annually and leads the world in exporting rugs and hunting trophies. As polar bear numbers plummet under pressure from climate change, the Canadian territory of Nunavut quadrupled its hunting quota this season.Tell the Service to take a stand against this excessive killing, stop the international trade in their parts and lead the world in polar bear protection.Take action by using this Web address: